Gunda Kinos
Gunda Kinos (titularly Kinos Tama I) was the primary founder of the Nokana Empire, as well as its first Tama. He is a well-loved and memorialized hero of the Taryphos, and the Nokanian people, for toppling the oppressive Lyrian Empire under Akko Muraia. He was a fierce war commander, and spiritual leader of the Karoph peoples, who led their exodus out of the Ohkorra Desert in the late Zenith Era. Kinos' legacy is striking within Nokanian culture, and even a bit shocking to outsiders. He is revered highly as a god-like figure, and rightfully so: Kinos was one of three known Taryphos demigods at the time, whose divinity derived from his claim that his parents were Karophus and Kaias directly. He led a majority of his people out of the Ohkorra Desert, to the promised land on Kalythos Isle, where they lived peacefully until enslaved by Lyrian explorers. Kinos and his fellow Karoph not only liberated their people, but they toppled the Lyrian Empire through a seven year war, that would shape the future of Atheryin forever. However, Kinos was not without his own shortcomings: the Tama brutally murdered all Lyrians he could get his hand on, culling the population to near extinction. The race survived, but the hatred of the canid people has yet to die out. Kinos also built his empire on the idea of near-absolute personal freedoms, legalizing the use of all drugs, professional murder, slavery, and other taboo crimes. Claimed Immortality Little is known about Kinos' birth or early life. Taryphos myth places him as one of the original Harbinger scouts who discovered the Karophus Puzzle Box in the late Kudes Era, though this would make him an estimated 1,268 years old at the time of his death. Kinos' immortality is still heavily debated, but those who believe he was indeed an immortal being attribute it to his possession of the Karophus Puzzle Box, as the other two Karoph seem to exhibit a trait of immortality as well. Others attribute this long life to being a demigod, though given the often variable abilities handed off to demigods, it's difficult to determine whether or not the Karoph's half-god blood had gifted them with immortality. Supporters of Kinos as a saint within the Karophist church explain that the Puzzle Box presents its wielder with any set of abilities needed to accomplish a certain goal, usually in favor of the wielder themselves, but sometimes to fulfill the Box's own wishes. This claim is confirmed by Kinos' acceleration of age and death shortly after the Box had been stolen around the turn of the era. Immortality in Kinos' case would be useful tool, as it removes the fear of dying before his empire is fully formed. Kinos' mortality is still a consistent subject of research, some believing he is yet another "wandering spirit" similar to King Harrod, but Kinos' rather plain mortal death (rather than an apotheosis or simply disappearing from history) seems to negate that claim. The Karoph Church upholds the tradition that Kinos was in fact immortal and lived for a full 1,300 years, and is not welcome to speculation on the fact. Most upholding citizens of the Nokana Empire believe the same, and those who don't are often outcasts within their communities. The Ohkorra Exodus The only completely certain point at which Kinos appears in history is in Zenith 207, when he is shown organizing and leading the Ohkorra religious group called the Karoph, alongside Feruhn Ilagaana and Sorus Keran. The Karoph were formed as a split sect of other Taryphos, hailing the three leaders as prophets, because they heard the voice of their father, Karophus, through the Karophus Puzzle Box.